Students Respond to Thai Flooding

As flooding persisted in Bangkok, Thailand, Catholic university students and staff used the Jesuit residence, Xavier Hall, as a base for relief efforts for flood victims on the outskirts of the capital. About 30 students from the Catholic Undergraduate Center of Thailand joined hundreds of other volunteers at two relief centers in the Don Muang and Chatuchak sections of the city. The students helped fill sandbags and prepared emergency relief packages for residents displaced by flooding. “During this semester break, our students had planned to go to Mae Hong Son [Province]; but because of the flood situation, the C.U.C.T. committee decided to cancel the trip and offer volunteer service for f lood relief work,” said Maharsono Probo, S.J., chaplain at the Catholic center. “We students have to contribute our support when society is facing a crisis,” said the C.U.C.T. president, Setthawutt Chanpensuk. More than 350 people have died in Thailand as a result of flooding that began in the north in early August. The flooding has affected an estimated 2.8 million households.